


Raised in War and Love

by On_Every_Spectrum



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Canon Compliant, Canonical Character Death, Coming Out, Coming of Age, Family, Friendship, Gen, Genderqueer, Genderqueer Character, Genderqueer Luna Lovegood, Ginny Weasley-centric, Grief/Mourning, Growing Up, Growing Up Together, Loss, Minor Character Death, Non-Binary Author, Non-binary character, Queer Character, Queer Ginny Weasley, Queer Lily Luna Potter, Queer Luna Lovegood, Queer Themes, Queer author, Siblings, Trans, Trans Character, Trans Female Character, Trans Ginny Weasley, Trans Lily Luna Potter, Trans Luna Lovegood, non-binary, non-binary luna lovegood, queer, sibling relationships, trans author
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-13
Updated: 2020-07-13
Packaged: 2021-03-05 06:21:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,727
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25249819
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/On_Every_Spectrum/pseuds/On_Every_Spectrum
Summary: "Ginny Weasley was born into a world at war and a family filled with love. She was greeted joyfully by a community that needed cause for joy."Ginny was the first girl born into the Weasley family in three generations. This is the story of how she grew up.
Relationships: Arthur Weasley/Molly Weasley, Harry Potter/Ginny Weasley, Luna Lovegood & Ginny Weasley, Minor or Background Relationship(s)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 48





	Raised in War and Love

Ginny Weasley was born into a world at war and a family filled with love. She was greeted joyfully by a community that needed cause for joy. There was talk of naming her after her grandfather. It would have been fitting. He was the seventh child in his family, just as she was. But her father decided that he could not bear it. Could not handle calling his newborn child by his murdered father’s name.

She was given a plain name. One that matched the names of her many brothers. Something easily said, easily spelled, easily forgotten. It wasn’t a name she cared for, and she would change it in time. For now, though, she was barely aware of it.

A newborn child with a full head of hair. Brilliant ginger to match her entire family. Big eyes always watching. Ginny was a quiet baby. Later her mum would joke that it’s the only time in her life she’d been quiet. Her family was a loud and cheery one; families of nine are seldom described as quiet. And, yet she rarely made a sound.

Little Ginny was well loved. She was rarely set down the first several months of her life. Her brothers eager to play with the newest addition to the household. Her mum well practiced in moving throughout her day with a child in one arm. Her father spending long nights holding her close in his arms, pacing the floor unable to sleep. Visitors doted upon her, glad to have something so purely happy in the world.

Ginny’s uncles were murdered almost two months to the day from when she was born. She would never know them. Though her mum took care to have a photo of the two of them holding her, practically beaming down at the little bundle cradled between them, printed and hung on the wall of her nursery. Placed just above her crib, where Ginny could look up at their smiling faces.

Her mum filled the house with reminders of her younger brothers, determined that they would not be forgotten. She began to pull Ginny close and pace through the house with her as often as her father did. Both of her parents taking comfort from their little baby. Understanding one another’s sense of loss.

Her uncles were murdered less than three weeks before the end of the war. He Who Must Not Be Named was defeated. Ginny’s parents stayed home from the revelries the next day. Pulling their children close around them. Even as her oldest brothers begged and pleaded to go join the parties.

Ginny Weasley was born into a world at war, but she grew up in one finally rediscovering peace. She grew up in a world where parents allowed their children to play freely outside and no longer feared whether they might come home, but still walked carefully among themselves. A world where too many loved ones had been lost, and those that remained were pulled close.

Ginny was her parents’ final child. They talked late one night, not long after the war had ended. Little Ginny cradled in her mother’s arms long past when her siblings were each tucked in bed. “I can’t.” Her mother had said. “I love this baby. I love all of them.” She pulled Ginny closer and pressed a gentle kiss on her brow.

“I know we wanted a big family.” Her dad stepped closer. “We have a big family.” He cut in with a soft sweet smile, wrapping his arms around his wife and his daughter. “I can’t.” Her mum had said. “Not after…” She never finished the sentence. Ginny would always be the youngest child.

She was treated as the youngest. Sheltered in a way that her older brothers weren’t. Held close for years past when each of the others had been let run free. Their place in their parents’ arms usurped by a newer younger child.

Her brothers loved her, but they teased her. The baby of the family. One by one they started to leave for Hogwarts. And, those left behind were fewer and fewer. Her oldest brother left when she was only a year old. Her family brought her to the train station, and she waved goodbye. Cradled, as always, in one of her parents’ arms.

Ginny Weasley grew up alongside Luna Lovegood. Their fathers were old friends, having spent their schooldays together. They lived a mere stone’s throw from one another. Luna was six months her senior. But, by the time the girls were three they were inseparable.

Luna was the first person Ginny told that she was a girl. The two children playing in the field beyond Luna’s house. Her mother watching them absent-mindedly while she flipped through a book. They were six years old. Playing a delightful game with devious fairies and mischievous nargles and distraught princesses.

“I like being a princess.” Ginny said happily, after much distraught weeping and wailing. “I don’t.” Luna had said frankly. “I’d much rather be a dragon. Or a heliopath. Do you think princesses are ever captured by heliopaths?” Ginny wasn’t certain of the answer, she supposed they could be. At the moment they were playing at princesses outsmarting the small magical creatures attempting to hold them hostage.

“I think I’m a girl.” She continued a few moments later. Luna stopped and looked at her. “I think I am too.” She replied. And, the two had continued playing. Now introducing a misguided heliopath into the game to be rescued by a daring young princess.

Ginny told her dad three weeks later. She’d almost forgotten, but he was reading her a bedtime story about princesses and that reminded her. “Oh, Daddy, I’m a girl.” She’d said quite matter of factly. She wasn’t quite certain why her parents hadn’t realized that, but she figured it was likely on account of there being so many boys already. They’d just assumed she was one too.

“Oh, are you?” Her dad had said with obvious surprise, lowering the books. “Yes.” Ginny had confirmed. “I think so at least.” She looked down at herself, as if the answer lay there. “I think I’d like being a girl better than being a boy.” She couldn’t have told you why. She just knew it.

“Well, I like you best as you. Boy or girl.” Her dad had said with a fond smile, ruffling her hair. He finished the story for her, before going downstairs and having a long discussion with her mum. Ginny would never know everything they talked about that night.

The next morning nothing was said about it at first, but over the breakfast table Ginny looked towards her mum. “I’m a girl.” She’d said simply as ever, realizing that she hadn’t told her yet. Now that she was starting to talk about it, she realized that she’d have to tell everybody. That seemed like an awful lot of people.

Percy rolled his eyes. “You can’t be a girl.” He protested, but their dad placed a hand on his shoulder and told him to be quiet. “A girl, huh?” Charlie said with a grin, plucking her out of her chair and swirling her around. “I’ve always wanted a baby sister.” He remarked, placing her on his shoulders.

“A girl.” Her mum said simply. “All right, sweetie.” And, she continued eating her breakfast. The others at the table followed suit. And, eventually Charlie put her back down, allowing her to finish her own porridge.

That was that, more or less. People started calling Ginny she. Well, most people did. She had to kick Percy in the shins when he refused to. But, he learned soon enough. She asked to grow her hair out, but that was as much to look like Bill as it was because she was a girl. She thought Bill’s hair was very pretty.

Bill had smiled at her when she told him that. “And, I think you’re very pretty, squirt.” He returned, pulling her into his lap. She missed him and Charlie when they went back to Hogwarts. She didn’t miss Percy as much, though it was sad to have another one of her brothers leave.

Ginny was a couple years older when she changed her name. Her mum took her to Diagon Alley to shop for Christmas presents. They stopped for ice cream on the way home, always a special treat. And, Mr. Fortescue had asked her name. When she answered, he looked surprised.

“And, here I thought you were a little girl.” He remarked with a laugh. She’d stomped her foot loudly, having long sense learned it was an excellent way to get an adult’s attention. “I am a little girl.” She informed him, and he crouched down until he was at eye level with her.

“I see.” He said with a kind smile. “I apologize for my mistake, miss.” He spoke quite seriously, and Ginny quickly forgave him. It wasn’t often that adults apologized to her. Especially not adults as old as Mr. Fortescue. And, he never got her gender wrong again.

Still, she didn’t like her name. It was terribly boring. And, she was the first to tell you, she was not a boring person. Plus, people thought it was a boy’s name. And, she was definitely not a boy. Right now she mostly only spoke to people who knew her, but she thought it would be quite annoying starting Hogwarts in another few years and having to correct everyone.

“I want to change my name.” She said determinedly at dinner that evening. Everyone looked at her. She was good at getting everyone to look at her. Where once Ginny had been quiet, now she was the loudest in the family. Having learned it was necessary to get everyone’s attention.

“I want to be Ginerva.” She’d made up the name. With Luna’s help. Luna had such a pretty name. Ginny wanted a pretty name too. Ginerva sounded perfectly lovely. Like the name of a princess in one of their make-believe games. Ginny had used it all afternoon through a game, confirming that she liked the way it sounded.

“Ginerva.” George had said, thinking it over. “Ginny.” Fred had said, confidently. And, with that she had a new name. Her full name was Ginerva, but everyone called her Ginny. She was okay with that. That Christmas her mum had made her a jumper with a G on it to help everyone remember.

George had taken to stealing the jumper, even though it was far too small for him. So, the next year everyone had gotten jumpers with their first initial. Then George had taken to stealing Fred’s jumper and vice versa. Ginny was the only one who could always tell them apart, but she never told.

Ginny Weasley was loved and she was confident. But, she was sheltered in a way that her oldest brothers weren’t. Their mum had taught each of her brothers to fly, but she didn’t teach Ginny. She didn’t teach Ron either. Said that she couldn’t. Said that the first people she’d ever taught to fly had been her little brothers and she just couldn’t. She missed them too much.

Fred and George taught Ron to fly because they needed someone to be keeper. But, no one taught Ginny. so she snuck into the broom closet late at night and borrowed each of her brothers’ brooms in turn, teaching herself.

In her games with Luna she started pretending to be a famous quidditch player as often as she pretended to be a princess. Luna took to those games with great interest as long as the famous quidditch player could be chased by a herd of blibbering humdingers.

They were nine when Luna’s mother died. The two of them playing alone by themselves, a privilege they had been deemed old enough for. It was a wonderful adventure. Luna was an excellent storyteller and Ginny was always up for something wild.

The accident itself was very quiet. They might have missed it, except Luna had gone inside for a glass of lime cordial. When she came back out, she was very white. “My mother is dead.” She announced in a quiet solemn tone of voice.

At first Ginny thought it was part of the game, but that didn’t make any sense. When Luna started crying a moment later, she realized that it was absolutely serious. Ginny didn’t know what to do. She took off running, fast as she could, tearing through the fields between their houses until she reached her mum.

She explained the situation between panted breathes, surprised to find tears running down her own face as well. She hadn’t noticed them when she’d be running. Her mum only took a moment, shouting to Ron that she was headed out and to stay inside and out of trouble or Merlin help him, before she picked up Ginny and apparated them both to the Lovegoods’.

Luna was sitting on the front step, still crying. Almost completely still. She didn’t look up when they arrived. “Where’s your father?” Ginny’s mum asked, rushing over to the little girl and wrapping her arms around her. “He’s gone.” Ginny answered on Luna’s behalf. “Hunting crumple-horned snorkacks.” Luna added in a quiet voice, muffled by Molly Weasley’s embrace.

“I’m taking you home with me.” Molly said simply, straightening up and tugging Luna towards her. Taking both children’s hands and apparating back to the Burrow with them. “Ginny, fix Luna some cocoa.” She directed while she sat down and penned two quick letters, sending them both off with Errol.

Ginny did as directed, pulling a cauldron out of the cabinet and beginning to heat milk for the cocoa. Luna stayed close, completely wordless the entire time. Eventually the two girls settled down, side by side, and dutifully sipped their drinks. Ginny found she had absolutely no idea what to say.

She didn’t know what happened next. Her parents stayed busy, and while they each went over to Luna’s house at different times, neither child ever did. Luna stayed with them for four days before her father returned from Sweden and took her home.

There was a funeral a few days later. Ginny got new black robes for it. Normally new robes made her excited, they were certainly rare enough. But, that day she could only cry. She’d liked Luna’s mum. She was nice. She always took the time to listen to anything Ginny had to say and took it quite seriously. And, she let them eat as much chocolate as they liked.

Luna was quieter after that. She didn’t say nearly as much as she used to. And, when she did it was always in a soft distant tone of voice. As if she wasn’t all there. It took Ginny a bit to get used to, but she learned to. She was more than capable of saying enough for the both of them.

Their make-believe games slipped away, but they found other ways to spend their time. Luna disliked flying, but she humored Ginny occasionally. And, she loved creating things. Ginny didn’t enjoy crafting as much, she didn’t think she was very good at it. But, she did enjoy seeing what Luna made. It was always something marvelous.

The next year Ron left for Hogwarts and Ginny was left by herself. It was odd to be the only child at home. She and Luna spent nearly every day that year together. It was still a sorrowful year. Sometimes her mum looked at the two of them with an expression Ginny didn’t understand but knew meant nothing good.

She left for Hogwarts and things just became worse. She and Luna were sorted into different houses. The minute that the hat sat on Luna’s head and called out Ravenclaw Ginny found herself dearly hoping to be placed there as well. But, she knew it was a silly hope. Her whole family was in Gryffindor, there was no reason to expect that to change now.

They began to grow apart at Hogwarts. They didn’t stop being friends, but they were no longer inseparable. They had been forcibly separated, and Ginny mourned the loss. That year was hard. She was lonely and sad and trying desperately to fit into a new environment. She wrote it all down and that ended up being her biggest mistake.

Ginny Weasley did not have a particularly happy time at Hogwarts. She mastered hexes and threw them skillfully at anyone who dared to insult her or anyone in her family. She made friends gradually and held onto the one she had, though not as tightly as she might have liked. She joined the quidditch team. She nearly died more than once.

She learned to live with a cavalier stubborn attitude and a fountain of sass. She became known for her skill and her personality. She made herself into the kind of person she wanted to be and she wouldn’t let anyone see anything else.

Hogwarts taught her a lot. Still, she was more than grateful to leave it. That last year had been the worse, for all that it was the first one where no one had tried to kill her or someone she loved. Going to school in a castle filled with the memories of people who had died there only a few months previously, people she had watched die, some she had helped to kill, that was something she didn’t know how to do.

She asked Luna once how she continued living in a house where she’d seen her mother die. “There wasn’t really a choice, was there?” She’d responded, the same far off expression in her eyes that Ginny had become used to. “Leaving the house wouldn’t have left behind the memory.”

Ginny supposed that was true. Fred would be no less dead whether she was at Hogwarts or not. Still that last year was the hardest of all. And, she knew she wasn’t the only one mourning a family member’s loss. It was a hard year.

“You weren’t supposed to have to live with this.” Her mum had told her once, sounding incredibly tired. “I never wanted you all to grow up in a war.” Ginny had wrapped her arms around her mum at that, thinking how strangely small she looked. “I lost my brothers. You shouldn’t have lost yours to the same fight.” They’d cried together.

After school she’d continued living. Luna was right. There was no other choice. She became a professional quidditch player. Got back together with Harry. Though not right away. They had both grown a lot since they last dated. They needed to take the time to become friends again first.

“You know I’m trans?” Ginny had shared late one evening, the two of them curled up on the couch in her apartment. Sharing butterbeer and biscuits her mum had sent. “Hmm. No.” Harry had replied with faint surprise. He sounded interested, but nothing more.

“I am.” Ginny said simply, before taking another sip of butterbeer. “Good to know.” Harry said with a faint blush and she could tell what she was thinking, but she wasn’t inclined to indulge it yet. “Eat your biscuits.” She prodded, and he did as he was told.

When they got married, she wore intricate floral robes, the kind she’d imagined in more than one make-believe game when she was small. Luna was her maid of honor, looking radiant in her own bright robes. It was a small ceremony. Just their family. Though, of course, that wasn’t so small after all.

They adopted children. A little baby boy first. Then two more. When their youngest told them that she was a girl, Ginny simply laughed. “Like mother like daughter.” She observed, picking up her own little girl. “What do you think of the name Lily?” Harry had asked hesitantly, but with obvious hope in his eyes.

Lily suited her well. And, Luna made a beautiful middle name. Little Lily Luna was as well loved as her mother had been. And, Ginny desperately hoped that the cycle broke with her. That this little girl wouldn’t be plunged into a war as well.

Lily was the same age as Lorcan and Lysander. And, the three grew up together in much the same way that Ginny and Luna once had. Playing their own wild games of make-believe. Ginny and Luna always watched them play. Even once they were all well past old enough to be safe on their own.

Neither caring to remember what happened once when Luna’s mother had stayed inside. Both knowing that watching their children play could not actually prevent something like that. But, doing it anyways. It was good to see the children. It made them both smile.

“I don’t think I’m a girl.” Luna remarked once, one lovely summer afternoon. The two of them sitting side by side looking out at the large yard and the small children delighting in it. “Oh?” Ginny replied with polite interest. “I thought I was once.” Luna mused aloud.

“That can change.” Ginny observed, though it never had for her. “It can.” Luna agreed quite simply. “Are you a boy?” Ginny had asked, looking curiously at her long-time friend. “I don’t think so.” She’d replied, smiling to herself. “I think I’m both. Or maybe neither.” Her eyes danced. “Neither and both at once I suppose.”

Ginny nodded. “Would you like me to call you anything different?” She inquired. “Oh, I don’t think so.” Luna’s hand drifted to a locket she’d taken to wearing. “I’m rather fond of my name.” She said with a soft expression. “My mother gave it to me.”

“I always thought it was a pretty name.” Ginny shared, reaching out for her friend’s hand and squeezing it. “Yours is too, Ginerva.” Luna agreed, grasping her hand in return. The two of them sat like that for several hours more, enjoying the beautiful day before finally calling their children in for a late supper.

Ginny Weasley was born into a world at war and a family filled with love. Those two things had always been a part of her life She supposed they always would be in at least some ways. She had grown into herself anyways, fighting when she needed, but always focusing on the love. She found herself lucky to have an abundance of it.


End file.
